Bicycle Thread

[mad082]

what do you mean by paying it off in instalments?

also how much of it are you planning on putting on your old bike? if you swap pretty much everything over and then put all your old gear on the new bike and then sell it as a complete then it will probably work out pretty cost effective.

and to ido09s, what you were saying about getting the bike much cheaper in vic, was the shop you got it from a giant concept store by any chance? the reason i ask is that i have found out this week that the giant concept stores are able to buy stock at 20% less than the average giant dealer. this means 1 of 2 things. 1: they can run them at rrp and make a buttload, or 2: they can run them at 20% off and still make full margin while making the normal giant dealer look like a rip off. the best thing to do is to try and find out the RRP of the bike and then base your buying off that. as long as you aren't paying more than RRP then you are doing ok, and anything below that is a good buy. you will always find shops that have bikes they are desperate to get rid of so will drop the price. just don't think of shops selling stuff at RRP as rip-offs. some of our kids bikes at work we run a bit above RRP because of the cost of freight. if we absorbed the cost of freight on them, by the time we take into account the cost of building them we would be better off not stocking them as we would be making a loss on them.

[xALmoN]

what do you mean by paying it off in instalments?

also how much of it are you planning on putting on your old bike? if you swap pretty much everything over and then put all your old gear on the new bike and then sell it as a complete then it will probably work out pretty cost effective.

and to ido09s, what you were saying about getting the bike much cheaper in vic, was the shop you got it from a giant concept store by any chance? the reason i ask is that i have found out this week that the giant concept stores are able to buy stock at 20% less than the average giant dealer. this means 1 of 2 things. 1: they can run them at rrp and make a buttload, or 2: they can run them at 20% off and still make full margin while making the normal giant dealer look like a rip off. the best thing to do is to try and find out the RRP of the bike and then base your buying off that. as long as you aren't paying more than RRP then you are doing ok, and anything below that is a good buy. you will always find shops that have bikes they are desperate to get rid of so will drop the price. just don't think of shops selling stuff at RRP as rip-offs. some of our kids bikes at work we run a bit above RRP because of the cost of freight. if we absorbed the cost of freight on them, by the time we take into account the cost of building them we would be better off not stocking them as we would be making a loss on them.

there's a 35$/week plan for a duration of time for i can't remember which model, was a kona something. I just thought i might just get a complete bike, port the parts over, and sell off the rest. but the wheels running the usual 16 engagement hubs, not so fun =(

My bike only has frame, fork, bar, stem, cranks, seatpost and rear derailluer shifter. LOL

[ido09s]

mad, i am certain it wasnt a Giant Concept store in VIC. And the store i was comparing it with from Sydney was MCC who now also own the Giant concept store in Sydney.

You can have a look yourself now. Jump on www.bikeexchange.com.au and take a look at the discounts offered in VIC v's NSW.

I agree with anything under rrp being a good price but when you have one state discounting by so much, and then another state offering nowhere near the same it becomes a bit frustrating.

It was an XTC 29er i was after. VIC price, $1699. Cheapest i could get one in Sydney was about $2100 and thats a considerable difference in price. It wasnt a run out, and it wasnt anywhere near the end of the year or the new model coming out either.

[xALmoN]

i'm liking the 2nd hand stuff yo.

[mad082]

there's a 35$/week plan for a duration of time for i can't remember which model, was a kona something. I just thought i might just get a complete bike, port the parts over, and sell off the rest. but the wheels running the usual 16 engagement hubs, not so fun =(

My bike only has frame, fork, bar, stem, cranks, seatpost and rear derailluer shifter. LOL

do some more research into it. it may be a rental/lease program where at the end you have give the bike back, or buy it for a certain amount of money, like what you get with radio rentals, etc. we have a similar finance option at work. we also have a normal finance program, but they both work out more expensive than putting it on your credit card and paying it off over the same period of time.

[xALmoN]

Nah, on 2nd thought, since i just need wheels and brakes, it really doesn't make sense.

[mad082]

what sort of wheels are you after? one of the guys at work has a set of crank brothers wheels for sale. i think he wants about $500, but i'm not entirely sure. they are in very good condition, the rear has a new freehub body. pretty sure one of the boys would also have a set of decent brakes for sale too.

[mad082]

You sound like Mr Harvey lol

I know what your saying about shop fronts needing to make some money, but when i can go interstate and buy my bike, plus get a weekend away for the price the Sydney store is selling it, then there is something wrong.

I was looking at an XTC 29er at one stage..... $1600 in VIC, closest i could get in Sydney was $2100. I was happy to pay $2100 but a weekend away in Melbourne, plus the bike was very appealing

Do a comparison on bike shops from different states and you will be quite surprised at the differences. Several bike shops in Sydney wanted to charge me $4400 for a full XX setup, i got it from a QLD bike store through bike exchange for $2200 shipped.

I have been in retail and i have seen the effects of the internet when someone wont open their eyes and move with the times. I have also seen the effect of the internet when someone does and there is no reason a savvy business person could not compete with these online stores.

its just unfortunate that a lot of retail businesses are stuck in a rutt and cant take a chance with off loading some stuff cheap to make a name. People need to rely on large profit margins to stay alive these days, whereas you will find a lot of these online stores sell in bulk for a small profit. Sure they dont have that many over heads, but if your selling in massive ammounts you are going to make massive dollars if your smart

digging up an old post, i was looking at prices on groupsets at work today. the RRP on a full XX groupset is around $4500. what should be noted is that that price includes the rockshox sid XX forks. without the forks the groupset RRP is around the $2600 mark. so if you asked them for a price on the FULL xx groupset and they looked up the pricelist, it would've said around that sort of price. if you did get the sid forks for that price, let me know where so i can order a heap of those groupsets because that is well below cost, LOL

[ido09s]

I got an XX group set minus the forks for $2200 about 12 months ago. Bought it from a Brisbane bike shop that had it advertised on Bike Exchange. Money well spent

Here you go, $3400

http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/bike_accessories/sram/groupsets/2011-xx-drivechain-brakes-forks/lawnton/qld/100167908

Drivetrain

Rear Mech - xx rear

Front Mech - xx front dm

Cassette - xg1090 11‐36

Chain - pc10901r

Bottom Bracket - blackbox ceramic

Shifters - xx shifters

Cranks - xx q156/a166 GXP

Brakes

160fr/160rr - xx Fr and Rear

Forks

XC level - SID XX WC 100

Other forks are available (price may change)

Edited August 1, 2011 by ido09s

[mad082]

i'll check that against the wholesale price tomoro but i guess it is probably cost price. don't get the point of shops selling it at such low prices (unless they really need to get rid of it). it's good for customers but from a business sense it is stupid. why spend $3000 on products to only make a few dollars on it when you could make the same amount of profit from a much smaller investment? it also then ruins the market because the consumer expects to then be able to buy it at that price all the time, which makes it harder for shops to be able make a profit, which is afterall, why they are there. unless of course they are buying stuff from overseas websites and bypassing the aussie wholesaler, which can lead to much bigger problems. for starters, no warranty, so if the customer has an issue the shop has to fix it out of their pocket as the aussie suppliers are really cracking down on this and are starting to suss out which shops are buying stuff from OS and shutting their accounts.

[*LOACH*]

I need a "new" bike and came across a second hand Giant Rock 5500 (possibly only sold in Japan - assembled in Taiwan) for the equivalent of about $300. I know stuff all about bikes but it is my daily transport so it is important that it is reliable.

I would really appreciate anyones thoughts on it and also what to look for when buying secondhand. Here are some specs (just click on the blue tabs above the bikes name to cycle through the 3 pages):

http://www.giant.co....&action=outline

It has a couple of aftermarket bits too: a Catseye computer gizmo which has a magnetic sensor on the front wheel and some end bars for the handlebars,

Thanks in advance!

Edited September 7, 2012 by *LOACH*

[Trozzle]

Buy mine, I really wanna get rid of it to buy a BMX. I just don't use it for what it's designed for anymore.

[*LOACH*]

Buy mine, I really wanna get rid of it to buy a BMX. I just don't use it for what it's designed for anymore.

Before I buy it can you just bring it over so I can check it out. Here are some directions http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distanceresult.html?p1=565&p2=57 thanks mate.

I ended up buying the Giant anyway. Bit small but otherwise really happy with it. Any suggestions on stuff I should check or worthwhile parts swaps?

[Trozzle]

Haha missed that bit

[*LOACH*]

Haha missed that bit

Good luck with selling yours anyway - looks like a nice bike.

[Mitcho_7]

If you want a decent bmx Troy, buy one of mine!

[Trozzle]

Gotta get rid of the dualy first lol

[25GTT]

Ahhh I wondered where this thread went. Since my last bike I went from a flat bar gt tachyon to an Apollo exceed 40. I have never previously been an Apollo guy but I gotta say with the 105 gear set it is a dream to ride and extremely light! Love it. Shaved my trip to work from 45 mins to 40 mins so definitely quicker and averaging about 30km/h

[xALmoN]

but you get neck aches..?

[25GTT]

Xalman not sure if your post is for me, but either way.

My new bike is still a flat bar road bike, was lookig at the proper drop bar road bikes, but with the neck aches i get, its only going to make things worse when leaning over even more to look in front.

Its still a flat bar but the compenentry and weight is fantastic, again, not being an apollo man, i was really suprised.

Here is the link to the road beast:

http://www.apollobikes.com/bikes12/commuter/exceed-40

I have since put on some Mavic Aksiums but so tempted to be the new Easton EA50 aero wheels, the look horn!

P.S. thanks Marc for your advice and assistance, I love the new bike!